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Crew Dave's Spur of the
Moment One |
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SOC
CREW ACTIVITIES - May 2005 - Day 1 |
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Monday 9th May and it was just after 9.00am. The weather looked great so I
made a spur of the moment decision to go north today. Normally on a trip to
Scotland, by now I would have been on at least one sailing by now - but
not today... No today, as I was unhelpfully reminded last night, I was due
at the dentists mid-morning. So down I went into town ready for when the
surgery opened - just in case I could be squeezed in earlier than my 9.40
appointment. No such luck! By the time they had found my notes it was
almost 10 o'clock and I wasn't able to set off north until almost half an
hour later. Not a good start to the day, but at least the weather forecast
was for a dry and bright couple of days - good photos hopefully.
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I made my way up the M6 and M74 corridor - passing no less than 3 speed
camera vans perched on over-bridges, trying to generate revenue for
Cumbria Constabulary and Strathclyde Police respectively. (Those in charge
of operating the Cumbria speed traps have the cheek to refer to them as
'safety' cameras, yeah right!) Needless to say I was not going to become
the next victim of this modern-day highway robbery, and even doing just
under 70mph as far as Junction 8 on the M74, I still made the Clyde by
early afternoon. The sun was out in force and I was baking slowly but
surely in the car by the time I got to Largs.
Loch Alainn was alone on the Cumbrae Slip crossing. Her summer partner
Loch Riddon was away on relief cover elsewhere on the Clyde. |
Loch Alainn in the Largs Channel |
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I caught the 1515 sailing over to Cumbrae with approximately 12 other
passengers. At this point my camera had not been taken out of its pouch,
but once I was on the island I was able to get to SoC work once again.
From a viewpoint on the northern end of the little island, not only could
I see the Loch Alainn as she made her way over to Largs and back, but also
north to Wemyss Bay where the Jupiter could be made out. |
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Jupiter and Saturn as seen from Cumbrae
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Loch Alainn leaving Largs
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I was on Cumbrae for around two hours and in that time I was able to get
pictures of the various ferries around the area. The Saturn and Jupiter
passed each other off Toward lighthouse in the distance, and the Loch
Alainn made her way back and forth to Largs several times, meanwhile to
the south I spotted the little Raasay which was lying spare at Fairlie.
She was hiding behind the end of the pier although her bridge and mainmast
could be seen sticking up.
I eventually made my way back to the slipway and caught the ferry back
to the mainland at 1700, just in time to join the traffic queues on the
main road down to Ardrossan. This was my next destination as the
Caledonian Isles was due in just over half an hour. As I and the rest of
the queue progressed south I could see the Arran ferry heading across the
firth from 'Scotland in Miniature' in the distance. I got to Ardrossan
about 5 minutes ahead of the ferry and parked up in the car park adjacent
to the masrhalling area.
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Caledonian Isles leaving Ardrossan
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Years ago when I had been to Ardrossan, there was always access onto the
path along the breakwater. Today this is sadly no longer the case and
there are signs warning people to keep off the breakwater's ledge. Talk
about health and safety gone mad!!! I ignored this instruction and climbed
the one remaining set of sandstone steps at the landward end of the
structure in order to get some photos of the ship arriving. Unfortunately
by the time I was in position the Caledonian Isles was rounding the pier
and manoeuvring into position at the linkspan. As a result the photos were
not very impressive.
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The ferry was in for just under half an hour before she sailed for Arran
once more. By this time I was down at the end of the pier by the light
beacon and as the Caledonian Isles backed away from the berth I was ready
with the camera. The photos this time were better as a result of having time
to get into the best location.
After the ferry had disappeared out into the open water once again, I
returned to the car and made for Kilmarnock where I was staying overnight.
As I left the car park I was given an evil glare by the rude woman in the
barrier control - it turns out that you only have to pay for parking if you
are using the ferry and alas she made no money out of me today! She'll
really like me tomorrow when I turn up to get photos of the lunchtime
arrival...
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 SoC Useful Links: |
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To see a more detailed description of the islands and photos, visit
Undiscovered Scotland and click on a place. |
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To view details of the crossings we have been on see the Crossings
section, or for the vessels featured in this diary, see Ships
of the Fleet and click on a vessel name. |
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